Step 9: Solar Jelly

Step 10: Hope this helped

Please leave a comment if you have any questions, suggestions or ideas.

Creating a solar panel out of broken re-used solar cell pieces. I ordered a pack of these from http://siliconsolar.com (3$ for a bagful of them - you can order here). In addition, you will need some conductive copper mesh (available at most art stores), glue gun + sticks, a multimeter and a conductive pen (or any sort of conductive brush-on - I got my conductive silver pen here). In this tutorial I will try to explain the best technique I found to connect these broken cells, in order to create your own CHEAP solar panel.

Step 1: Get the solar cells

this is how the cells can look like when they arrive

Step 2: Check power and ground

When you look at the solar cell, make sure you check voltage between the positive side (the back side which is usually grey) and the negative side (which is the black side, with all the lines on it) of each cell. You can simply use a multimeter by placing its leads on the cell itself. This step is crucial, otherwise you'll connect bad cells in the middle of your link, causing the whole panel not to work.

Step 3: Use conductive pen if needed

You need to make sure that all the tiny little lines in the negative side of the cells are interconnected (a way to gather all the electrons from the surface). This step is not necessary for all cells, only for the ones like in this picture, which don't have any connection between the lines on the surface. you can use the conductive pen to draw a thin line which connects all of them. Once you do that, you will immediately see the voltage rising for that specific cell.

Step 4: Cell with conductive pen line

here's an example of a cell with the conductive pen line on it, linking between the tiny conductive leads on the negative side of the solar cell.

This is great. With all the things going on around us about solar energy we forget that fundamentally solar energy is the natural evolution of the electricity, power and energy industry. If the consumer also becomes the generator and all are electricity self sufficient where solar solutions seem to be going then imagine what fantastic future we can build for ourselves.

I've actually constructed solar panels for my house and a couple family members' homes. However, I used a solar panel kit rather than recycled photovoltaic cells. I'm sure this is a cheaper method (by far), but it definitely sounds a bit more technical. If this is your first attempt to construct a solar panel, I recommend using a kit rather than building it from recycled cells. I followed the directions at Do It Yourself Energy, which has numerous guides on both solar and wind energy.

This is great for those broken solar panels due to storms. Got a lot of people asking about how to salvage the scrap and I don't know how to before I came to this site.Great tutorial. But I have a question.. how much wattage does this "thing" produce? If anyone want to know more about solar panels feel free to visit my site: Solar panels for your home

Many people are looking to save money. That is why people are look for information on how to make solar panel so that they can reduce the cost of energy bill in the home. to learn more you can refer Solar Panels Benefits and Disadvantages.

If you want to repair the broken cells, then it costs you more, it is better way to make a solar own you can know everything how to make a solar own An engineer write it on his Solar Panels Blog http://topdiysolarpanels.com/

Questions: It is a fascinating project I would like to try. But I would need a whole lot more detail and pictures. Not skipping any steps.

Step 2 Connect the pos. and neg. multi meter clips to where/what on the cell?

Step 5 is really confusing. Needs more detail. It looks like you took tabbing wire and soldered it in one long strip across the negative face of the bits. Then placed the whole string of bits on a large piece of copper mesh. So that only accounts for the positive to pos. and neg. to neg. Is there some other wire that goes over and under the bits? Could you please add pictures of attaching the where the positive and neg. parts are also?

Step 6 & 7 it looks like the wire mesh has been cut into strips maybe a few inches long goes over and under--connecting pos. to neg. That makes it a little more clear. But Now it no longer looks like the tabbing wire is connecting pos to pos and neg. to neg.

Step 9 looks really pretty. But wouldn’t the bits on the back side never get sun? Step 10 . It looks like we are back to a large piece of wire mesh.

I'll check out some other DIY solar panel articles and add that info to your idea of using broken bits. As an artist I think I can make a really unusual and attractive solar collector. Thanks for the idea!

This is great. I also found another good site on how to make solar panels if you guys are interested in how to do it yourself from scratch. You can go here for good DIY solar panels information. Hope it helps.

HI, I'm from philippines and energy cost is quite expensive. It's good to know that this kind of technology is growing. However, here in my country doesn't seem too interested on this. I want to build or make one for my own. I need your ideas about this, and I reckon if you could help me on this one.

http://build-home-solar-panel.com/

I saw this site and I need your inputs. I want to have at least one guide for now. Thanks in advance!

ive heard of people pressing rocks and bits of glass bottles and stuff into concrete for sidewalks I but you could do the same thing with these. mix em in with black pebbles and they would look right at home. Then your sidewalk could be generating electricity. you might want to coat them with epoxy or put them under bits of broken glass because the wair and tair of being a sidewalk might break them down. also you would want to make doubly sure your wireing is right because when the concrete dries you wont be able to fix it.

Has anyone heard of or tried out some of the solar panel kits you can use to make solar panels at home? I have been looking into this but a little nervous about trying this type of project. My neighbor sent me to this site; Solar Panels Make At Home and I checked it out. Just looking for some feedback before I dive in.

Hey, very interesting guide! I am searching for an easy to use system for making your own solar panels, I like DIY but I am not extremely hands-on.. My friend pointed me towards "Gridless Energy" where there are comparisons for affordable systems for building your own solar panels. Check it out if you are not sure where to start!

I love the fact that so many people still think solar power is science fiction, yet everyday another MW or 2 is being installed. So much activity in this industry that it's expected to reach 1GW in the USA by the end of the year.

Just joined and just found this posting ... you guys have some interesting stuff on this website! ... please excuse my ignorance but doesn't the glue act as an insulator or is there a conductive glue we should be using?

You don't actually want it to conduct--you already have the conductive ink, and existing connections to do that. If the cells were encased in conductive glue, then they wouldn't have any output (short circuit).

About This Instructable

Bio:Work at the FUSE (future of Social Experience) Microsoft Lab in Cambridge, MA. Alumni of the Interactive Telecommunications Program, New York University.
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